Canobie Lake Park Opening Day 2015

Though a bit later than normal, Canobie Lake Park opened for the season. Weather was fantastic for a day at the park mid to high 60s with a few clouds. No heavy winds to affect any rides. I was visiting with my older brother Steven. Throughout the day I ran into friends from ACE and The Canobie fan forums.

I first went to Customer Service to buy tickets for the season along with upgrading an unused ticket from last year. $84 dollars for 3 tickets good for the season. The upgraded ticket cost me nothing since prices didnt increase from 2014 to 2015. One cool thing is this year they give you your tickets in a brochure sized file folder that has a park map printed on the inside. This was much nicer then having to ask for an envelope.

Rides down  The only ride listed as down was Extreme Frisbee. Wave Blaster however never opened. Tilt-a-whirl had a bit of down time but was up quickly. The train has major issues and was shut down early.

My Brother and I opted to hit Canonball first. We had already taken a look at the rehab and wanted to try it. Unlucky for us both rides we ended up in the center of the train. This made it difficult to truly assess the outcome of the work. But what I did notice was a bit of a shake that was likely from the train but the back turn was very much improved. The train glides through it better however the return trip felt a bit slow. The park only re-tracked a bit over half of the coaster, from the drop of the turn to the entrance to the station. Hopefully the rest will be done for next season.

Throughout the day when went from 11am to 6pm we rode Cannonball, Untamed and Mine of Lost Souls twice. We then rode the following rides once: Zero Gravity, Rowdy Roosters, Tilt-a-Whirl, Antique Cars, Skater, Psychodrome, Caterpillar, DaVincis Dream, Star Blaster, Corkscrew, Log Flume, and Pirata. I hit Boston Harbor Patrol with Pubman from Canobie Fan.

The big surprise for the day was that Psychodrome got a rehab. Gone are the cheesy party lights. All of the lighting bars around the dome are fixed and now sport red, blue, green, and white bulbs. The parks also added large strobes in the center and a couple on the outside. The park no longer operates a flood light during the rides cycle. Instead the lights around the dome flash filling the area with those colors and then switch to a strobe sequence. This repeats until the ride ends.

Mine of Lost Souls also seems to have seen a bit of love. Since my rides last year the lighting was a lot better and the audio throughout the attraction was much better. I am a big fan of this ride but it still needs some work. The waterfall effect doesnt work correctly and riders are getting dripped on more and more as it ages.

I bought a shirt for the first time in years on this trip. I got an Equinox shirt which as marked down to $10 since the ride is no longer at the park. I will likely get a few more since the shop which is not operated by the park offers shirts for $15 or 3 for $36. These shirts also seemed to be better quality then other shirts I was finding at other locations in the park for $20-$25.

I didnt eat any food in the park today but was surprised to see that Portofinos was open. This location normally doesnt open until late spring. Instead my brother and I went to Long John Silvers after the park closed. We invited a number of people to go but in the end only Pubman form Canobiefan opted to go. Food was very good but the orders got messed up a bit. The employees handled it wonderfully corrected the issue and even gave us a bit of extra food.

In all it was a great opening day. No new ride has been picked to replace Equinox but the park did get a number of smaller landscaping improvements and many of the rides had new lights. I cant wait untill later in the season to see them in action. The park never did get that busy, but the discount sale was running all weekend this year.